Wang Yi Meets with Nigerien Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou

On March 23, 2022 local time, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Nigerien Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou in Islamabad on the sidelines of the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

Wang Yi said that China and Niger enjoy strong mutual trust and friendship and have always firmly supported each other on issues concerning each other's core interests. Bilateral economic and trade cooperation is deepening and key projects are progressing smoothly. China is ready to work with Niger to promote the implementation of the outcomes of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and bring more benefits to the Nigerien people.

Wang Yi said, China appreciates Niger's contributions during its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation with Niger on multilateral affairs, jointly oppose hegemonism, uphold international fairness and justice and safeguard the common interests of the two countries and other developing countries. China looks forward to Niger's support for the Global Development Initiative (GDI), broadly gathering international consensus and accelerating the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Hassoumi said, the GDI put forward by President Xi Jinping is fully provident and Niger firmly supports it. China has always offered timely assistance to Niger when it encountered difficulties. Niger bears in mind that China was the first to respond to Niger's request for COVID-19 assistance and that the first batch of vaccines arriving in Niger also came from China. China has become an important economic and trade partner of Niger. Niger is ready to deepen its friendship with China and looks forward to more support from China in accelerating economic development and enhancing international competitiveness.

Hassoumi introduced the security situation in the Sahel region and expressed the hope to strengthen regional security cooperation mechanism and improve Niger's security guarantee capability. Wang Yi said that China supports the national security capacity-building of the countries in the Sahel region. Development serves as the foundation of security. China is ready to continue to provide assistance within its capacity to the countries in the Sahel region to speed up development and improve people's livelihood, and mobilize more resources and forge stronger synergy through strengthening South-South cooperation, so as to support African countries in achieving common development.